Khelafat Majlis quits 20-party alliance

Khelafat Majlis quit the BNP-led 20-party alliance on Friday.

Dhaka, Oct 1 :  Khelafat Majlis on Friday quit the BNP-led 20-party alliance as the party thinks it has become an ‘ineffective’ opposition platform.

Khelafat Majlis acting secretary general Advocate M Jahangir Hossain came up with the announcement at a press conference at a restaurant in the city after a meeting of the party’s top decision-making body, Majlis-e-Shura.

He said the meeting unanimously decided to part away with the 20-party alliance.

Jahangir said Khelafat Majlis has been there in the 20-party alliance for 22 long years, but it has not had any visible political activities and programmes since 2019.

“The 20-party alliance was apparently made ineffective through the formation of Jatiya Oikyafront since 2018,” he said.

"Considering the ideological, organisational position and political situation, our party’s Majlis-e-Shura today decided that Khelafat Majlis will play a role in the field with its own unique characteristics as an ideological organisation. We’re severing relations with all political alliances, including the 20-party one, from now on," Jahangir said.

Replying to a question, he said their party will not involve with any other political alliance.

Earlier, around 200 members of Majlis-e-Shura joined the meeting with Moulana Ishaq in the chair.

On July 14 last, a faction of Jamiat Ulama-e Islam, another component of the BNP-led 20-party alliance, left the alliance.

In 1999, the BNP-led four-party alliance was formed to intensify the movement against the then Awami League-led government. The alliance got a massive victory in 2001 election.

The four-party alliance was expanded to a 20-party one in 2012, but many of its partners, including Islami Oikya Jote, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), NAP and NDP left the party at different times, reports UNB.